Blowpipe.



J. W. WHITFORD.

BLOWPIPE.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 31, 1912.

Patented Jun 4, 1912.

BLowrIrE.

Specification of 1'.etters Patent.

Original application filed March 4, 1911, Serial No. 612,189. Dividedand-this application filed January 31, 1912. Serial No. 674,496. j

3 FORD, a citizen of To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN WALTER WHIT- the United States, and resident of23 East street, Pontiac, county of Kent, and State of Rhode Island, haveinvented certain new and useful Improve-.

ments in Blowpipes,

of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to apparatus for cutting metals by means of a jetof oxygen accompanied by a jet or jets of combustible mixture affordinga heating flame or flames for bringing the metal to a temperature atwhich-it is acted upon by the oxidizing jet to efl ect a rapid cut-tingor puncturing. The success of cutting operations performed with suchapparatus depends directly on the maintenance of exact proportionsbetween the combustible and combustion-supporting gases forming theheating jet, and -on varying the heating and cutting jets appropriatelyfor different-kinds or grades of'work. The size of the jets and thequantities of gases consumed depend on the sizes of the passages and thepressures available or ex pe ient; and therefore it has been deter-.ta-in kind or grade of work;

mined that for work of diflerent kinds jet orifices or passages ofdifferent sizes should be employed. Furthermore, a change in the size ofthe heating jet orifice or passage should be accompanied by a change inthe provisions or structures for effecting mixing of the gaseousconstituents, with a view to preserving the fixed ascertained ratiobetween the constituents and securing the proper velocity for the jet.To secure these results complete separate apparatuses may be provided,each adapted to perform a ceri or a plurality of interchangeable part-scontaining jet passages and orifices and mixing provisions may beprovided for use with a common body or for different of convenience inusing I the necessity of handling a considerable num her of parts. inassembling or disassembling the apparatus, it is very desirable to avoidPatented June a, 1912.

and iii changing or adjusting the apparatus kinds of work. The variouskinds of cuttting apparatus heretofore devised have been defective inoneor, more of these particulars. i It is the object of this invention-toprovide an apparatus of the fewest parts and of maximum convenience andreliability.

The apparatus comprises a head or suitable support or body part, and a;unitary re-. movable and replaceable tip socketed into the head. Thisunitary tip has in it both a heating jet passage, or passages, and acutting jet passage, with delivery orifices at the front end of the tip.The cutting jet passage has an inlet at the rear end of the unitarytip,and the heating jet passage has separate inlets at the rear end of. thetip for the two kinds of gases to form'the heating mixture. The head isprovided with three separate .conduits for the gas for cutting and thecombustible and combustion-supporting gases, these conduitscommunicating with the three kinds of inlets in the unitary gasmixingand jet-delivering tip.- The heating and cutting jet passages with theirdelivery orifices-and the inlets are all properly proportioned in eachtip, and are all changed with each exchange of tips. A series of tipsdifferently proportioned as to their parts for difierent kinds of workare preferably provided for each head. Furthermore, the tip and head areprovided at their socketed joint with cooperating sealing seats whichprevent all improper, mixing of the gases due to leakage as well as lossof the gases into the atmosphere. Thus there is only one tight joint tobe effected at each change. In eflect these seats aflord seals betweenthe several gases and bet-ween the gases and the, atmosphere at thejoint, and these seals.are preferably conical, having the samegeneratrix, or of other form so that all of the seals must be effectedsimultaneously and of equal f tightness. The seals, when conical inform, are of'a conicity greater than the critical angle of sticking, sothat the tip cannot be jammed in the head no matter how hard the headand tip maybe forced together by a screw union or other holdingmeans.

The gases preferably employed are oxygen for the cutting et, and oxygenand acetylene for the heating jet.

In the accompanying drawings illustrating the invention: Figure 1 is aside elevation of one form of hand torch in which the invention may beembodied; Fig. 2 is a lon; gitudinal section through the head andunitary tip, in a planeat right angles to that of Fig. 4; Fig. 3. is anenlarged cross-section through the rear conical part of the tip, lookingtoward. the rear extremity thereof, certain annular channels and inletpassages being indicated by dotted lines; and Fig. 4 is a verticallongitudinal section through the head and tip.

. While the invention is shown embodied in a hand'torch, it will beunderstood that this is by way of illustration only and that thestructure is equally applicable to mechanically supported, guided oroperated cutting apparatus.

The head 10 may be of any suitable form. It is here shown of a simpleconstruction suitable for hand torches, but it may be of a form suitablefor mechanical or automatic7 apparatus. It is preferably a simplecasting, and contains three separate gas conduits 11, 12 and 13, foroxygen for cutting, oxygen for the heating. jet and acety lene for theheating jet, respectively. These conduits are continuations of conduitsor pipes, 14, 15 and 16, which with the casing 17' constitute a suitablehandle for the torch. Suitable valves 18, 18 and 19 control these supplyconduits, which in operation are con-.'

nected with sources of gas supply by flexible tubing The sources of gassupply for the three conduits are preferably all dis- I tice.

tinct, and the gases will be delivered under. appropriate pressures.

20 is the unitary tip, the passages, inlets and discharge orificesnecessary to the delivery of the heating and cutting jets and to theformation of the heating mixture, constituting a single member which isapplied to and removed from the head as a unit. It has a longitudinalheating jet passage 21 and a longitudinal cutting jet passage 22,terminating at" the forward end of the tip in delivery orifices 23 and24, spaced laterally from each other at an'appropriate distance, andpreferably though not necessarily in parallel relation.

The cutting jet orifice is preferably in a orifice, in accordance withestablished prac- The cutting jet .passage 22 has an inlet 22* in therear portion of the unitary tip communicating with the conduit 11 in thehead. The heating jet passage 21 has two kinds of inlets in the rearpart of the unitary tip, there being separate inlets for the two kindsof gases to form the combustible mixture. The arrangement of the v tiphead on the other, I be no leakage of the gases which contains allinlets or inlet passages maybe varied as desired. A desirablearrangement is illustrated, in which there is an oxygen inlet 25 openingthrough the rear extremity of the in alinement with the passage 21, andlateral inlets or passages 26 for acetylene, opening through the side ofthe rear portion of the tip and delivering into the passage 21 beyondthe inlet 25. There may be any suitable number of acetylene inlets, fourbeing indicated in Fig. 3; and they may be inclined to the passage 21.The inlet 25 communicates with the conduit 12 in the head, and theinlets 26 with the conduit 13. The several passages, orifices and inletsin each tip will be proportioned in accordance with the principles knownin the art and the particular result desired to be obtained.

The head 10 is socketed for the reception of the tip 20 and this socketand the rear portion of the tip which enters it are formed with smoothsealing seats or surfaces pre venting all improper mixing of the gasesby leakage or escape thereof into the atmosphere. Thus, it will be seenthat in changing the cutting and heating jets for different kinds 'ofwork it is necessary to effect only one gas-tight joint. Preferably thisjoint is a conical one, the conicity being such that the tip cannotbecome immovably jammed in the head, irrespective of the degree ofpressure applied by the separate screw coupling 27 or other suitableuniting means. The lateral inlets 22 and '26 open through the conicalsealing portion of the tip, and ample areas of the sealing surfaces onthe head and tip are afforded between these inlets and between them andthe inlet 25 on the one hand and the front end of the to insure thatthere can either into the atmosphere or so as to mingle with each otherbefore entering .the tip. Preferably annular channels 28 and 29 areformed in the conical sealing surface of the tip, for the pur-- pose ofestablishing communication at all times between the inlets 22 and 26 andtheir supply conduits Hand 13. h

, The unitary tip 20 may be of one piece,- but I have illustrated adelivery nozzle 30 for the cutting jet formed of a separate piece fromthe main body of thetip and secured thereto, as by. screw-threads, so'asfto form a part thereof. This is desirable because the projectingcutting jet nozzle may become burned or otherwise damaged, in which caseit may be renewed without discarding the whole tip.

The manner of cutting metals by means of. heating and cutting jets iswell understood and need not be discussed here.

While I have illustrated and described one embodiment of my inventionwith considerable particularity, it will be understood, that numerouschanges may be made without departing from the spirit of the myapplication filed March removable and replaceable invention.

This invention constitutes a division of 4, 1911,Serial No. 612,189, forwelding and cutting apparatus, which covers certain features applicableto both welding and cutting apparatus and the specific claims of whichare limited to welding apparatus. a

What I claim as new is:

1. Apparatus for cutting metals by means of gases, comprising a socketedhead and a tip having a readily separable conical sealing joint, and

means for holding them together, said head having three separateconduits opening into its socket for gases to form a combustible mixtureand oxygen for cutting, respecsage having separate tlvely, and said tiphaving heating jet and cutting jet passages,

inlets communicating with two of the conduits in the head and saidcutting jet ,passage. having an inlet communicating withthe thirdconduit, two kinds of these inlets opening through the conical portionof the tip which with the conical surface of the socket affords gastightseals preventing leakage of the three kinds of gases.

2. Apparatus for cutting metals by means of gases, comprising a socketedhead and a removable and replaceable tipyhaving a readily separableconical sealing'joint, and

I means for holding them together, said head opening through the tipwhich with the conical surface of the having three separate conduitsopening into its socket for gases to form a combustible mixture andoxygen for cutting, respec tively, and said tip having heating jet andcutting'jet passages, said heating jet passage having separate inletscommunicating with two of the conduits in'the head and said cutting jetpassage having an inlet communicating with the third conduit, one inletopening through the rear extremity of the tip and the other two kinds ofthese inlets conical portion of the socket affords gas-tight sealspreventing leakage of the,three kinds of gases.

3. Apparatus of gases, comprising a socketed headand a unitary removableand replaceable tip, said head having three separate conduits for gasesto form a combustible mixture and oxygen for cutting, respectively, andsaid unitary tip being'provided therein with a cutting jet passagehaving a delivery orificeat the forward part of the. tip andcommunicating at therear part of the tip with the corresponding conduitin the head and with a heating jet passage having a delivery orifice atthe forward part of the tip and separate inlets in the rear part of theunitary tip communicating with the corresponding conduits in the head,the head and said heating jet pas-- arate conduits for the two kinds ofgases for combustion communicating respectively with the two kinds ofinlets, said head being provided also with a conduit for supplyinggaseous fluid to said independent longitudinal passage, said tip andhead being provided with similar external and internal conical seats forsealing, there being separate annular passages formed between saidconical seats for placing said independent longitudinal passage and onekind of said inlets, respectively, in communication with their conduitsin the head.

5. In a device of the character described, a tip having a longitudinalmixing passage with a discharge orifice and a longitudinal inlet andlateral inlets for leading different kinds. of gases to said passage,said tip being provided also with an independent longitudinal passagedischarging at the forward part of the tip, and a socketedhead providedwith separate conduits for the two kinds of gases for combustionopening, respectively, through therear and side of said socket andcommunicating with said lateral and longitudinal inlets, said head beingprovided with another side conduit for supplying gaseous fluid to saidindependent longitudinal passage, said tip and head being provided withsimilar externaland internal conical seats for sealing, there beingsepafor cutting metals by means rate annular passages formed betweensaid conical seats for placing said independent longitudinal passage andthe lateral inlets, respectively, in communication with their conduitsin the head.

6. A device of the character described, comprising a head and aremovableand re placeabletip carried and supplied thereby, said head and the rearpart of the tip having cooperating sealing surfaces formed thereon, saidtip being provided with a mixing passage, a discharge orifice thereforat the forward part of the tip and inlets to the mixing'passage for thetwo kinds of gases to be mixed leading from said rear part of the tip,said tip having also therein a longitudinal passage which is independentof said mixing passage and has its inlet at said rear part of the t'pand its'outlet at the forward part of the tip, and said head being provided with three separate conduits which communicate, respectively, withthe two kinds of inlets to the mixing passage and the communicate withthe said inlets and, also between the gases and the atmosphere.

7. A device of the character described,

comprising a head and a removable and replaceable tip carried andsuppliedthereby, said head and the rear part of the tip havingcooperating sealing surfaces formed thereon,

said tip being provided with a mixing passage, a discharge orificetherefor at the forward part of the tip and inlets to the mixing passagefor the two kinds of gases to be mixed leading from said v,rear art ofthe tip, said tip having also thereln a longitudinal passage which issaid mixing passage and has its inlet at said rear part of the tip andits outlet at the forward part of the tip, and said head being providedwith three separate conduits which communicate, respectively, kinds ofinlets to the mixing passage and the inlet to said independent passage,said sealing surfaces having spaced annular independent of with the twocommunication-establishing grooves formed therein, and portions of thesaid surfaces at opposite sides ofthe grooves constituting seals between.the 'diiferent kinds of gases and between the gases and theatmosphere..-

- 8. A device of the character described,

comprising a head and a removable and re-.

placeable tip having a mixing passage with an outlet at the-forward partof the tip and inlets at the rear part of the tip for the two kinds ofgases to be mixed, said tip having.

also a longitudinal passage independent of the mixing passage having aninlet at the rear part of the tip and discharging at the forwardpart-thereof, the head being provided with three conduits for supplyingthe inlets to-the mixing passage and said ln'dependent passage.

In witness whereof I have signed my name in the presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

JOHN WALTER WHITFORD.

Witnesses: v p

CARL A. PEARSON, JoHn A. PEARSON.

